If I Were John Hammond....

It's Friday, and it's been an extremely slow Wisconsin sports week, so I am going to have some fun. Here are some potential deals that I would be looking to do if I were John Hammond. These deals that I propose would also have to make sense for the opposing teams as well so I will try and make them fair and explain them the best that I can. I'm really hoping for some good responses letting me know what you would think! A lot of these deals will be for salary cap relief, so if you are looking for great deals to help the Bucks this year I'm sorry, but it's probably just not possible... So that being said, here we go...

Trade 1: Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics

Bucks Get: Ray Allen (Expiring Contract), Tony Allen (Expiring Contract), Brian Scalabrine (Expiring Contract), and Gabe Pruitt (Expiring Contract)

Celtics Get: Michael Redd, Dan Gadzuric, Charlie Bell, Bucks 2010 1st round pick.

The Bucks get huge net gain in this deal is salary cap relief at the end of this season. If they were able to complete this deal the only players the Bucks would have under contract after this season would be Andrew Bogut, Jodie Meeks, Brandon Jennings, and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, and the only player making any real money would be Bogut. As for the Celtics, they get a pick which is almost guaranteed to be a lottery pick next year and a hungrier, younger version of Ray Allen in Michael Redd. They also get a good hustle guy in Dan Gadzuric who is a better version of Brian Scalabrine. The best part for the Bucks is that they get a popular Milwaukee player in Ray Allen, so it doesn't look like they are giving up and it shouldn't hurt ticket sales. The main reason this deal doesn't work is because the Celtics would probably be reluctant to take Redd coming off of surgery. It could be a great deal towards mid season if Redd shows that he is healthy!

Trade 2: Bucks, Bulls, Blazers, Jazz

Bucks Get: Tim Thomas, Rudy Fernandez, Steve Blake, Travis Outlaw, Kosta Koufos

Bulls Get: Michael Redd, Carlos Boozer

Blazers Get: Kirk Hinrich, Jazz 2nd Round Pick, Bucks 2nd round pick

Jazz Get: Tyrus Thomas, Brad Miller, Bulls 1st round Pick, Blazers 1st round pick

***Michael Redd is the only player in this deal who is not an expiring contract***

For the Bucks: Salary Cap relief, the possibility of having the rights to resign both Fernandez and Koufos if they wanted to.

For the Bulls: A chance to win the East with a lineup of D. Rose, M. Redd, L. Deng, C. Boozer, J. Noah, and J. Salmons coming off the bench.

For the Blazers: The point guard they desperately need.

For the Jazz: The ability to resign Tyrus Thomas to replace both P. Milsap and Boozer and 2 first round picks next season as well. If they don't make this move they risk losing Boozer next season and getting nothing in return. They also won't take that much of a hit with the acquisition of Brad Miller and should still compete this year.

Trade 3: Bucks and Cavs

Bucks Get: Z. Ilgauskas (expiring contract) and Delonte West

Cavs Get: Michael Redd

For the Bucks it cuts 13 million after this season, and D. West only would have one year left after this at 4.3 million. He also wouldn't be so bad in the interim teamed with Sessions and B. Jennings.

For the Cavs it gives them a chance at the title with Mo Williams, Michael Redd, LeBron, Verajo, and Shaq.

Trade 4: Milwaukee Bucks and Washington Wizards

Bucks Get: Mike Miller, Deshawn Stevenson, Mike James, Brendan Haywood, JaVale McGee, Wizards 1st round pick

Wizards Get: Michael Redd, Andrew Bogut

This deal would be a huge sell-off for the Bucks and a huge turn-off for the fans. It would not be able to be completed for 2 months when Mike Miller is eligible to be traded again. However this would give the Bucks all the financial responsibility that they want and can start over and build a new team next season the way they see fit. It would hurt to lose Bogut, but he hasn't lived up to his potential as of yet, and he has 50 million left on his contract! The team could also play Sessions, Jennings, Meeks, Mbah a Moute, and Alexander full-time to really get them playing at a higher level and it would also give them a great shot at a top 3 pick in next seasons draft.

As for the Wizards they get to field a team that has G. Arenas, M. Redd, C. Butler, A. Jammison and A. Bogut, which on paper looks really, really good. It also would be the all injury-prone team. But if healthy, they could compete with anybody!

Trade 5: Bucks and Mavericks

Bucks get: Josh Howard, Greg Buckner, Kris Humphries

Mavs get: Michael Redd

This is probably one of my favorite deals thus far. We know the Mavs have had interest in Redd previously and he would seemingly fit in well with a team of Kidd, Redd, Marrion, Nowitski, and Dampier. The Mavs are trying to be aggressive and make their team better and this would seem to fit w/ their philosophy. Howard has also worn out his welcome a little bit in Dallas, but his defense would fit Scott Skiles and his philosophy perfectly.

As for the Bucks, all 3 players are expiring contracts, but they would have a good chance of resigning Josh Howard if they wanted to. Kris Humphries would also start at PF more than likely and he is young and talented.

Trade 6: Bucks and Lakers

Bucks Get: Adam Morrison, Josh Powell, Sun Yue, D.J. Mbenga (all expiring contracts)

Lakers Get: Ramon Sessions, Dan Gadzuric

This deal would be dependent upon whether or not Sessions resigns and how much he resigns for, but if its a smaller figure, the Bucks could parlay Sessions with Gadzuric to save having to pay Gadzuric 6.7 mllion dollars next year. Sessions doesn't play too much into the Bucks plans anyway with Jennings being in town and Ridnour on the team this year to mentor. The Lakers meanwhile get richer and have a young, talented PG to now team with the veteran Derrick Fisher. Gadzuric's size and hustle won't hurt them either!

Trade 7: Bucks and Suns

Bucks Get: Amare Stoudamire, Leandro Barbosa

Suns Get: Luke Ridnour, Kurt Thomas, Bruce Bowen, Joe Alexander, Ramon Sessions, Francisco Elson, Malik Allen, Salim Stoudamire, Bucks 1st round pick

This may be a deal some of you like more. The Bucks actually getting better! It also goes against everything they have been trying to do, but the opportunity to get a player like Stoudamire doesn't come along all that often. The Bucks offer a starting lineup this year and next of Jennings, Redd, Mbah a Moute, Stoudamire, and Bogut. They still have Barbossa, Bell, Gadzuric, and Meeks coming off the bench. They also still get their cap savings that they are looking for just a year later than they would like. If this deal were completed, the only players the Bucks would have under contract would be B. Jennings, A. Bogut, C. Bell, and J. Meeks.

I'm not sure the Suns would ever even consider this deal. They get all expiring contracts except for Sessions. They also get Alexander in the deal who still has a ton of untapped potential. This would signal a full rebuild for the Suns and wouldn't make Steve Nash and company happy, but it may be the best thing for them at this point.

The likelihood of any of these deals actually happening is about 0.1%. Not all of them I'm completely 100% sold on for the future of the Bucks either. Nonetheless it is some interesting brain candy to think about. Hope you enjoyed and most of you are probably extremely happy right now that I'm not in fact John Hammond!

Braun vs. Melvin

Ryan Braun:

"To show everybody we're for real, we can go out there and make a move and improve our ballclub."

"We want to head in the right direction, not in the wrong direction."

"Regardless of the reasons, we've got to find a way to throw the ball a little bit better for us to have asuccess. When you're constantly behind in games, it's not easy and not fun."

"They (the Cubs) threw the ball a lot better than our starters did."

"All four guys we saw in this series are No. 1, worst-case, N0. 2-type starters."

Chicago's starting pithcers are, "a lot better than ours."

Doug Melvin

"It was inappropriate for him to say what he said, and I'm not happy about it."

"To make the statements he made and also get his teammates like that, it was irresponsible on his part. It just ticked me off."

"We all work every day from 9 a.m. to midnight, and basically 12 months a year."

"I'll be glad to have Ryan help if he wants to. I'll give him a badge and he can be my deputy."

"...I'm tired of it and I need to protect the people under us. Everybody's working as hard as they can to make this a winning organization."

"He's too talented a player to be doing this so early in his career. He just has to be careful about what he says."

First off all, both Ryan Braun and Doug Melvin need to learn to keep comments like this within the Brewers organization. Think of teams like the St. Louis Cardinals, New England Patriots, San Antonio Spurs, teams that have leaders in their staff (LaRussa, Belichick, Popovich) and on their team (Pujols, Brady, Duncan). This type of public pettiness would never, ever happen between a member of management and a player, and the fact that it did happen is completely unprofessional and helps no greater good whatsoever.

Braun is the first person to fault obviously because he was the one who started the whole mess. Braun said some things that he should say, and some things that he shouldn't have said. He said that both the pitchers need to pitch better and that the hitters need to hit better, he called out both the offense and the pitching and that is exactly what he should have done. Stating that the Cubs have better pitchers, that the Brewers need to go out and make a trade, and that we need to head in the right direction instead of the wrong direction are all completely wrong thins to say. Braun doesn't want to show that he doesn't support his own pitching staff because they will lose confidence and it won't help the team. He also doesn't want to give the Cubs pitchers more confidence then they already have. If the Brewers best player is stating that the 4 Cub's starters are all number 1 caliber starters, they are going to come in next time and pitch like number 1 starters. Finally, a player's job is never to make decisions on what a team should do in an offseason, trade deadline, draft, etc.. Braun was wrong to say that we have to make a move because now it shows just how desperate the Brewers are to make a move. It also puts unnecessary pressure on Doug Melvin to make a move because undoubtedly a vast majority of fans are going to agree with Ryan and therefore if Melvin doesn't make a move all of the heat goes on him. It's no different than Brett Favre trying to get involved with bringing certain players to Green Bay, such as Randy Moss. It just shouldn't be done, Braun's job is to hit, not make deadline deals.

All of that being said, I am much, much more disappointed in the way that Doug Melvin reacted to the situation. Everybody new that Braun probably stepped over the line a little bit and shouldn't have said what he said, but for Melvin to publicly call him out on it and say such silly things like, "I'll give him a badge and he can be my deputy..." really makes it look ridiculous and it divides the team between management and players. Doug Melvin had all the right to go to Ryan Braun, sit him down, yell at him, do whatever he needed to do, say whatever he needed to say, even suspend him for a game if need be and Melvin would have been in the right. Calling Braun out publicly when in a place of leadership such as General Manager is wrong and I frown much more on his actions than I do Ryan Braun's.

Braun is a 24 year old superstar who wants to win and answered an interview question from his heart and didn't think the whole answer through beforehand. It's a mistake, one that shouldn't happen, but when a microphone is placed in front of his face every single day to give his point on the state of the team, it's going to happen eventually. Melvin on the other hand has been in the General Manager's seat long enough to know that players will say stupid things and it's his job to respond in a professional manner. How hard would it have been for Melvin to say, "You know what, Braun probably said some things that he shouldn't have said, and we have addressed that with him and Ryan regrets the remarks that he made. Ryan wants to win just as badly as anybody else on the team and sometimes our emotions after a tough loss can get the best of us. We are all working as hard as we can to make this team successful and make another run at the playoffs and I think Ryan just lost sight of that for a moment."

That's all he needed to say and it would have covered everything, the problem would have been resolved, the media attention gets diverted and the case is closed. Instead Melvin reacts with his ego instead of his head and the story ends up on JSonline, ESPN, CNNSI, etc...

The bottom line is that Ryan Braun started it and he should have been talked to immediately by management, but the fact that Melvin didn't end it was even worse. I have been a huge supporter of Doug Melvin and what he his done for this team the vast majority of the time, but in this case, somebody needs to talk to Doug Melvin just as much as somebody needs to talk to Ryan Braun.

I will end with this... This whole story is blown out of proportion and isn't anywhere near as big of a deal as anybody is making it out to be. The Brewers will go out and compete against the Cardinals this week and everybody will just be doing their best to take down St. Louis. It doesn't cleanse the fact that the whole thing never should have happened however. I expect much greater awareness and decision making out of both Ryan Braun and Doug Melvin in the future.

Brewers Week in Review

Week of June 29th-July 5th

Monday June 29th: vs. New York Mets, won 10-6

Tuesday June 30th: vs. New York Mets, won 6-3

Wednesday July 1st: vs. New York Mets, lost 0-1

Thursday July 2nd: @ Chicago Cubs, lost 5-9

Friday July 3rd: @ Chicago Cubs, lost 1-2

Saturday July 4th: @ Chicago Cubs, won 11-2

Sunday July 5th: @ Chicago Cubs, lost 2-8

Record: 3-4 Runs Scored: 35 Runs Against: 31 Overall Record: 43-39 (2nd Place NL Central)

Player of the Week

Prince Fielder: 11-25, 0.444, 3 home runs, 8 runs, 3 rbi's

-Fourth time Fielder has won player of the week and third in a row!

Pitcher of the Week

Braden Looper: 12.1 innings pitched, 2.23 ERA, 1.49 whip, 5 K's, 2 wins, 0 losses

Goat of the Week

Seth McClung: 3.1 innings pitched, 20.32 ERA, 2.90 whip, K, 0 wins, 1 loss

Players who played well:

J.J. Hardy: 9-30, 0.300, 2 home runs, 5 runs, 2 rbi's

Ryan Braun: 11-32, 0.344, 4 runs, 5 rbi's, stolen base (5th straight time on list)

Casey McGehee: 10-27, 0.370, 2 home runs, 4 runs, 10 rbi's, 3 errors (4th straight time on list)

Mike Cameron: 7-23, 0.304, 2 home runs, 4 runs, 6 rbi's

Jason Kendall: 8-26, 0.308, run, 2 rbi's

Jeff Suppan: 7.0 innings pitched, 1.29 ERA, 0.86 whip, 4 K's

Todd Coffey: 3.2 innings pitched, 2.81 ERA, 1.25 whip, 4 K's (2nd straight time on list)

Mitch Stetter: 2.2 innings pitched, 0.00 ERA, 0.91 whip, K (5th straight time on list)

Trevor Hoffman: 0.2 innings pitched, 0.00 ERA, 0.00 whip, Save

Yovani Gallardo: 7 innings pitched, 1.29 ERA, 1.00 whip, 12 K's, loss (3rd straight time on list)

Players who struggled:

Bill Hall: 2-11, 0.182, 2 rbi's, error (4th time on list)

Craig Counsell: 4-23, 0.174, 3 runs, stolen base

Carlos Villanueva: 3.o innings pitched, 9.00 ERA, 2.33 whip, K (4th time on list)

Mike Burns: 11.1 innings pitched, 7.30 ERA, 1.44 whip, 5 K's, win, loss (2nd straight time on list)

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Gallardo Gets Shafted

All-Star Lineups were announced today and Yovani Gallardo was left off the list. Representing the Brewers will be OF Ryan Braun and 1B Prince Fielder.



Instead of Gallardo going, Chad Billingsley of the Dodgers, Johan Santana of the Mets and Jason Marquis of the Rockies were chosen. Here is a look at their respective numbers:



Gallardo: 104.2 innings pitched, 2.75 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 114 K's, 8-5 record.

Billingsley:112.1 innings pitched, 3.12 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 110 K's, 9-4 record.

Marquis: 109.1 innings pitched, 3.87 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 51 K's, 10-5 record.

Santana: 107.1 innings pitched, 3.27 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 106 K's, 9-6 record.



How Gallardo gets overlooked for any of the three is completely beyond me. The only stat that favors Billingsley, Santana, or Marquis is win/loss. Gallardo's numbers are far superior to any of the three. Gallardo was also not selected as one of the final 5 players for the fan vote to see who the last player selected will be.

Trevor Hoffman also arguably had good enough numbers to be selected and was left off, but he has struggled as of late.